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Shotton Hall and Cotsford Juniors Play Out An Epic

East Durham College hosted an amazing football tournament, involving 13 primary schools from the Easington area.

Teams of Year 5 and 6 girls battled it out in two leagues, semi-finals and the final for the right to go on to represent the Easington Schools Sports Partnership at the County finals, to take place on 8th December at Houghton Kepier School.

The semis were contested between Cotsford Juniors v Dene and Shotton Hall v Easington - with Cotsford and Shotton going through to the final.

The final was football at its best but also at its cruellest. Cotsford took the lead only for Shotton to equalise in the last seconds of normal time. The teams them played extra time but the deadlock remained – so it was on to the dreaded penalties. All seven players from each team had to take a penalty and still the teams could not be separated, so it was sudden death, with Shotton Hall finally being victorious.

The tournament day was organised and run by first year East Durham College students, studying for the BTEC National Diploma in Development, Fitness and Coaching, as part of their course. They ran the tournament day, set up the pitches, refereed the games, organised refreshments and presented the medals to the winners and runner-ups.

Garry Purcell, the Partnership Development Manager, for the Easington Schools Sports Partnership, said: “It was such a shame that both teams could not go on to the final, they both deserved it. There has to be a winner, but everyone should be extremely proud of themselves.”

Gill Hulme, Curriculum Leader for Sport & Leisure at East Durham College, added: “Well done to everyone involved, and I’m delighted with the professionalism our students showed in organising the day.”